/********************************************************************* * * File : $Source: /cvsroot/ijbswa/current/doc/source/readme.sgml,v $ * * Purpose : README file to give a short intro. * * Copyright : Written by and Copyright (C) 2001,2002 the SourceForge * Privoxy team. http://www.privoxy.org/ * * Based on the Internet Junkbuster originally written * by and Copyright (C) 1997 Anonymous Coders and * Junkbusters Corporation. http://www.junkbusters.com * * This program is free software; you can redistribute it * and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General * Public License as published by the Free Software * Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at * your option) any later version. * * This program is distributed in the hope that it will * be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the * implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A * PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public * License for more details. * * The GNU General Public License should be included with * this file. If not, you can view it at * http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html * or write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 * Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA. * *********************************************************************/ This README is included with the development version of Privoxy 3.1.1, which will someday become Privoxy v3.2. See http://www.privoxy.org/ for more information. The current code level is technically alpha, but is not yet significantly different from the 3.0.0 stable branch at this time.. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Privoxy is a web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities for protecting privacy, filtering web page content, managing cookies, controlling access, and removing ads, banners, pop-ups and other obnoxious Internet junk. Privoxy has a very flexible configuration and can be customized to suit individual needs and tastes. Privoxy has application for both stand-alone systems and multi-user networks. Privoxy is based on Internet Junkbuster (tm). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. IMPORTANT CHANGES REALLY BIG NEWS! August 2002: The long-awaited, oft-delayed stable version of Privoxy 3.0 is finally released! This is way behind schedule, but better late than never. The developers all hope the wait was worth it. NEWS! As of 03/24/02, the name of this project has been changed from ijbswa/ Junkbuster to Privoxy. This is reflected in many of the included files. WARNING! If upgrading from earlier versions of this project via RPM packages, the new package will delete any previously installed 'Junkbuster' packages. IMPORTANT! READ! Configuration Change as of 17 Mar 2002: The default listening port is now 8118 due to conflicts with port 8000 assignment. You will need to change your browser if upgrading!!! And maybe firewall, etc. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. INSTALL To build Privoxy from source, autoconf, GNU make (gmake), and, of course, a C compiler like gcc are required. When building from a source tarball (either release version or nightly CVS tarball), first unpack the source: tar xzvf privoxy-3.1.1-beta-src* [.tgz or .tar.gz] cd privoxy-3.1.1-beta For retrieving the current CVS sources, you'll need CVS installed. Note that sources from CVS are development quality, and may not be stable, or well tested. To download CVS source: cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/ijbswa login cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/ijbswa co current cd current This will create a directory named current/, which will contain the source tree. Then, in either case, to build from unpacked tarball or CVS source: autoheader autoconf ./configure # (--help to see options) make # (the make from gnu, gmake for *BSD) su make -n install # (to see where all the files will go) make install # (to really install) +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Warning | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------| |The "make install" target is temporary quite broken! It is recommended to use| |a binary package, or do a source build, and manually install the components. | |Sorry. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ If you have gnu make, you can have the first four steps automatically done for you by just typing: make in the freshly downloaded or unpacked source directory. For more detailed instructions on how to build Redhat and SuSE RPMs, Windows self-extracting installers, building on platforms with special requirements etc, please consult the developer manual. For binary RPM installation, and other platforms, see the user-manual as well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. RUN privoxy [--help] [--version] [--no-daemon] [--pidfile PIDFILE] [--user USER [.GROUP]] [config_file] See the man page or User Manual for an explanation of each option, and other configuration and usage issues. If no config_file is specified on the command line, Privoxy will look for a file named 'config' in the current directory (except Win32 which will look for 'config.txt'). If no config_file is found, Privoxy will fail to start. Or for Red Hat based distributions: /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start Or for SuSE: /etc/rc.d/privoxy start Or Debian: /etc/init.d/privoxy start ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. CONFIGURATION See: 'config', 'default.action', 'user.action', and 'default.filter'. 'user.action' is for personal and local configuration preferences. These are all well commented. Most of the magic is in '*.action' files. 'user.action' should be used for any actions customizations. On Unix-like systems, these files are installed in /etc/privoxy. On Windows, then wherever the executable itself is installed. There are many significant changes and advances since Junkbuster v2.0.x. The User Manual has an explanation of all configuration options, and examples: http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/. Be sure to set your browser(s) for HTTP/HTTPS Proxy at :, or whatever you specify in the config file under 'listen-address'. DEFAULT is localhost: 8118. Note that Privoxy ONLY proxies HTTP (and HTTPS) traffic. Do not try it with FTP or other protocols for the simple reason it does not work. The actions list can be configured via the web interface accessed via http:// p.p/, as well other options. All configuration files are subject to unannounced changes during the development process. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. DOCUMENTATION There should be documentation in the 'doc' subdirectory, but it is not completed at this point. In particular, see the User Manual there, the FAQ, and those interested in Privoxy development, should look at developer-manual. The most up to date source of information on the current development version, may still be either comments in the source code, or the included configuration files. The source and configuration files are all well commented. The main configuration files are: 'config', 'default.action', and 'default.filter' in the toplevel source directory. Included documentation may vary according to platform and packager. All documentation is posted on http://www.privoxy.org, in case you don't have it, or can't find it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. CONTACTING THE DEVELOPERS, BUG REPORTING AND FEATURE REQUESTS We value your feedback. In fact, we rely on it to improve Privoxy and its configuration. However, please note the following hints, so we can provide you with the best support: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.1. Get Support For casual users, our support forum at SourceForge is probably best suited: http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=211118 All users are of course welcome to discuss their issues on the users mailing list, where the developers also hang around. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.2. Report Bugs Please report all bugs only through our bug tracker: http://sourceforge.net/ tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=111118. Before doing so, please make sure that the bug has not already been submitted and observe the additional hints at the top of the submit form. Please try to verify that it is a Privoxy bug, and not a browser or site bug first. If unsure, try toggling off Privoxy, and see if the problem persists. The appendix of the user manual also has helpful information on action debugging. If you are using your own custom configuration, please try the stock configs to see if the problem is configuration related. If not using the latest version, chances are that the bug has been found and fixed in the meantime. We would appreciate if you could take the time to upgrade to the latest version (or even the latest CVS snapshot) and verify your bug, but this is not required for reporting. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.3. Request New Features You are welcome to submit ideas on new features or other proposals for improvement through our feature request tracker at http://sourceforge.net/ tracker/?atid=361118&group_id=11118. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.4. Report Ads or Other Actions-Related Problems Please send feedback on ads that slipped through, innocent images that were blocked, and any other problems relating to the default.action file through our actions feedback mechanism located at http://www.privoxy.org/actions/. On this page, you will also find a bookmark which will take you back there from any troubled site and even pre-fill the form! New, improved default.action files will occasionally be made available based on your feedback. These will be announced on the ijbswa-announce list and available from our the files section of our project page. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.5. Other For any other issues, feel free to use the mailing lists. Technically interested users and people who wish to contribute to the project are also welcome on the developers list! You can find an overview of all Privoxy-related mailing lists, including list archives, at: http://sourceforge.net/mail/? group_id=11118.